CO₂-Fund

At its meeting on 2 March 2018, the Departmental Conference (DK) of D-USYS adopted new regulations with the aim of reducing CO₂ and other greenhouse gas emissions related to air travel by 20 % by 2025. Among other things, DK decided to levy 100 francs per tonne of CO₂ equivalent from all air travel paid for by ETH within the department.

100 francs per tonne of CO₂-equivalent

Part of this "CO₂ tax" will be used to purchase CO₂ compensation credits in the central ETH-wide compensation system of the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN). The remainder is allocated to a CO₂ fund of the department. This is used to finance projects and infrastructure in the D-USYS that lead to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. The decision on the projects to be funded is made by the department's resource committee (RK).

Air travel at D-USYS: Applicable rules

• All air travel-related CO₂- emissions associated with the members and activities of the department are taxed at CHF 100/t CO₂(eq). The tax will be collected by the D-USYS Resource Manager and paid from the funds of the group/institution with which the person travelling is associated.
• Travel of less than 8 hours is usually by means other than air.
  
• For train journeys of more than 4 hours duration, first class tickets will usually be issued.
• Business class air travel is strongly discouraged.